There have been concerns regarding the limited resources of the conventional combustible hydrocarbon fuel sources and the damaging emissions that result from their use. This has prompted a great deal of research work into the use of sustainable, non-polluting energy sources such as Wind, Tides/Waves, Geothermal, Solar etc.
Ocean Wave Energy is a very concentrated and also a consistent source of renewable energy. When compared to the conventional fossil fuels, Ocean Wave Energy offers the double benefits of near limitless free supply and also a total lack of environmentally polluting emissions.
Although the total amount of Ocean Wave Energy in the Ocean Waves is of immense proportions, the Wave energy tapped by certain installed Wave Energy units of different technologies, is very limited. It is said that Ocean Wave Energy present in an area of 10 miles×10 miles, if tapped, could power the entire state of California. A 4 foot, 10 second wave has 35,000 hp or more than 26 MWs per mile of the coast.
In this invention, Ocean Wave energy is tapped from the surface Waves of the deep seas of over 60 feet in depth, far away from the shore. The Wave Energy units Float in the sea and tap the kinetic energy of the waves.
A number of different types of power generating systems have been proposed for commercial electrical power generation.
There are three basic systems for wave energy conversion. a) Surge or focussing devices that channel the Ocean Waves into Reservoirs. b) Surface followers that use floats or pitching devices that drive hydraulic pumps and c) Oscillating water column systems that use the waves to compress the air within a container.
The mechanical power created from these systems either directly runs a generator or transfers their energy to air or to any working fluid such as Water or Oil that runs a Turbine and a Generator. The main deficiencies with wave driven air Turbine systems, is the restricted overall achievable energy efficiencies. This is primarily due to the limitations, firstly in the means of focusing the wave energy to maximize the wave displacement amplitude and secondly a deficiency or deficiencies inherent in the turbine designs. The compressibility ratio between sea water and air is 1:832. In wave driven air Turbine systems, there is a great loss of energy, because the air is first compressed by the wave before it can exert pressure and run the Turbine.
A number of prior art wave energy focusing devices have relied on planer reflection of the wave front and/or the wave front is channelled through a narrow opening so that the vertical displacement or amplitude of the wave is magnified. Some other focusing devices have various means to change the formation of the sea bed. This disrupts the wave propagation and the amplitude of the wave is maximized at a predetermined location.
In the surface followers that use floats or pitching devices, the floats or pitching devices are connected to ropes or cables and these in turn are connected either to pumps or to ratchet mechanisms so as to turn electrical generators when the floats are either rising or falling.
Also, the floats may drive hydraulic pumps or pistons and the kinetic energy is used to drive a turbine, Ex. Sea Power and Associates' wave Rider.
Underwater turbines capture the movement of the Ocean's currents and use this energy to drive slow moving blades. These in turn, power a generator like an underwater Wind Mill. Example:—Blue Energy's Davis Hydro Turbine.
Those devices having pulleys and cables near or below the water surface and connected to floats or paddles are subjected to the destructive and corrosive power of the sand and salt water. Continued back and forth movement of a cable through a pulley in an underwater environment will require frequent maintenance which may be very costly.
All the above technologies, involves a great amount of expenditure. In the near shore technologies, all the devices are placed on the floor of the sea and a great deal of the wave energy is lost to the floor of the sea. In deep seas, the floats or pitching devices are hooked to heavy weights at the bottom of the sea for their operation. The object of the present invention is to overcome all the disadvantages of the prior art and be a useful alternative thereof. Further, the units in this technology could be placed in deep seas without anchoring at the bottom of the sea for their functioning.
Each Unit of this wave energy convertor is deployed in the deep sea and is buoyant. The oscillatory movement of the waves is translated into a rotatory movement, so as to directly or indirectly drive a generator.
Thousands of these units may be deployed, side by side with or without any space between the units. All the mechanical energy from the units is brought to one point, to run a single large generator.
The British Patent GB1515744 discloses a device for utilizing Wave Energy. However it has not been tried practically and this patent does not work as desired for the following reasons:                a) The two rack supports cannot freely slide the rack with gear teeth.        b) The continuous side way forces acting on the float would bend the rack and disengage it from the gear wheel.        c) The submerged spherical float would have wave energy acting equally on its upper and lower hemispheres. This would make the upward movement of the float with the wave, sluggish.        d) The spherical float is free to rotate on its axis i.e., the rack. Thus the wave energy forces acting on the float would rotate and dislodge the gear teeth of the rack from the wheel gear.        e) Gear box construction and its connection to a generator are not described.        f) There is no provision for interconnecting hundreds or thousands of these devices to run a large generator.        g) There is no mechanism described to produce grid quality power.        
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,885 dated Mar. 27, 1979 discloses a device for utilizing Ocean Wave Energy. However, it has not been tried practically and this patent does not work as desired for the following reasons:                a) The shape of the float is not ideal for movement and its movement would be sluggish.        b) The rack alone supports the float and it would get bent due to the side way movement of the float. The rack needs to be very strong to prevent this and be of great length to accommodate high amplitude waves and tsunami waves. All these demand a sturdy and a very long rack which would add up to heavy weight and the float may not be able to lift the rack.        c) The rack would hit the ceiling due to high amplitude waves and tsunami waves.        d) The rack hinges to the transverse arm which is pivoted. The rack at its hinge with the transverse arm would move in an arc when the float is lifted and thus would get bent.        e) The gear wheel ‘42’ needs to be of very great diameter to accommodate the movement of the rack.        f) The rack should have a spool behind it to keep it coupled to the pinion gear.        g) The rack is supported by cylindrical structures on either side of bar gear teeth of the rack. This would cause sluggish movement of the rack due to friction.        h) The civil construction has to withstand the waves.        i) There is no means to regulate the speed of the output shaft. This patent will not work as desired.        
In the light of aforementioned discussion, there exists a need for systems and methods that can tap the unlimited energy present in the ocean waves for power generation. The present invention discloses systems and methods for power generation from waves in deep oceans. The entire unit of this invention can be deployed in deep sea where the pillar construction from the bottom of the sea is not possible. This ocean wave energy converter is competitive with fossil fuels and is useful for deployment in the deep seas, throughout the world, all through the year.